The County Market on South Sixth Street is closing soon, but the grocery store owners say it wasn’t their choice to vacate the shopping center.
“Our lease is not being renewed,” said Gerry Kettler, director of consumer affairs for Niemann Foods, who said the store will be closing in about six weeks. “All employees can maintain employment without a break at other area stores.”
The Quincy-based parent company operates more than 100 supermarkets, pet stores and hardware stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. In Springfield, Niemann Foods has three other County Market locations at 210 E. Carpenter Ave., 1903 W. Monroe Ave. and 1501 S. Dirksen Parkway, plus Harvest Market at 3001 S. Veterans Parkway.
The shopping center on South Sixth Street anchored by County Market, 2777 S. Sixth St., was owned for years by the Kent Family Partnership. However, Doug Kent, a member of the partnership and commercial real estate broker, told SBJ the Kent family sold the plaza two years ago to an East Coast-based real estate company and has not had any further involvement with the ownership or management. He referred questions to the current owners, who did not respond to inquiries from SBJ.
